Calabrese's Jimmy Calabrese on Hometown Acceptance, Creating a New Sound and Dream Tours

When a band in a small genre possesses a sound that is very much their own, most would assume it would limit the acts it can perform with, but that's not the case with the local horror-punk trio of the brothers Calabrese.

They've performed and shared bills alongside a number of rockabilly and psychobilly bands, including The Chop Tops, Koffin Kats, and legendary act The Meteors, even playing Ink-N-Iron Festival 2012 with Buckcherry headlining. Calabrese, who hail from Phoenix, has proved it has the ability to play with any act with dark influences, even if the bands' sounds aren't similar. This plays over into their aspirations as well, says bassist/vocalist Jimmy Calabrese, the oldest of the three brothers.

"My Chemical Romance would've been a fun one to open up for," Calabrese says. "I'd love to open up for Danzig, Black Flag, and, of course, the original lineup of the Misfits -- that would be a lot of fun."

It's easy to see that Calabrese, whose members hail from Phoenix, has been influenced by acts like Misfits and Type O Negative, yet the band's approach has been established since its beginning. In 2003, the brothers released a six-song EP, Midnight Spookshow, which brought macabre lyrics and a heavy sound to the forefront. This was followed by their debut full-length album, 13 Halloweens, in 2005. The seven unreleased songs, in addition to Midnight Spookshow's offerings, showed the newly refined talent of the sibling trio as well as continuing with their horror-influenced theme.

They have since released four more records, the most recent being 2013's Born with a Scorpion's Touch. Though the new album is unmistakably Calabrese's own, they opted for a more traditional rock 'n' roll twist.

"This is just where the songs led us," Calabrese says. "We played out all the horror themes that we could think of. There's so many other ideas and influences that we have, like B-movies -- classic American B-movies that have rebellion and rock 'n' roll and all that kind of stuff. So, we thought, 'Hey, let's think about that kind of stuff that we also love.'"

Calabrese says that last year's full-length offering continued on with the campy slasher flick tropes. "With Born with a Scorpion's Touch, we knew our fans expect a certain thing, but if we kept doing that, we would get bored, and I'm sure the fans would get bored," he says. "So by taking risks and trying new sounds and following what we love, this could create a whole new Calabrese sound that you have now."